03.05.2023 (Ellivo TALKS)
ep 05. Design: There's no one right answer
“The design process at Ellivo isn’t about a single designer’s big vision, it’s a collaborative approach to how design solves a problem.”
Matt Martoo (Associate Director)
We don’t have a guidebook to how we design, instead we focus on identifying problems and opportunities. From there we overlay the human experience to discover how we can improve the journey for people within our buildings, while delivering on our clients vision. The success of this approach is embedded through nurturing a culture of design and collaboration within the studio. This is fostered through empowering likeminded architects and interiors to contribute to the design thinking when developing the vision for a project and building ownership for this vision as the project continues through to completion.
We approach each project with a focus on the people and how they will experience the space. As we unpack the journey of people using our buildings, we learn how experiences can be improved through design and importantly, how the project vision can be embedded through this process. Within our studio, project typologies are varied and change in scale – but our design process remains consistent and relies on bringing the best out of our clients and our consultants to design for the human experience.
Working across a variety of projects and scales, whether this is a large multi-residential building, build to rent development, a house or a golf club – each places a significance on the experience of those using the building and the undiscovered opportunities for design to help solve a problem.
“It’s about putting people into our buildings, or the spaces that we’re designing. Understanding the opportunities to design something that really caters for their needs. And it’s a very functional approach to architecture, it’s putting the aesthetic aside to make sure that you’re really giving what is needed.”
Matt Martoo (Associate Director)
A powerful process that is embedded within our studio is returning to our projects after they are complete. Most recently, we spent time with some of the residents at Vantage, Benowa to understand what is working, and opportunities for the future stages which are currently in design and construction. Projects of this scale that are built across various stages provide a deeper insight and opportunities for the design to evolve. Through this process we like to capture the best parts of the project and keep refining the vision.
